Relevant Bible Verses: Isaiah 40

Leading Question: How much of Isaiah 40 requires a “correct” historical context in order to bring meaning to the believer’s life?

This chapter from Isaiah 40 seems to beg for a different kind of approach. As I worked through it, I couldn’t help thinking of that “unofficial anthem of the American west,” “Home, Home on the Range.” The last two lines of the first stanza really seem to resonate:

“Where seldom is heard a discouraging word

And the skies are not cloudy all day.”

Yet given the positive features Isaiah 40, some shadows remain, for wherever there is forgiveness ...